u/More_listen

Numb dick from pfs for 5 months after stopping topical dutasteride

I try to get a little peer support from a couple of my close friends telling them my situation

As title says, My friend says I'll get better if I eat healthy, workout, and don't jerk off.

Not aiming for revenge against him for his answer, but can other people who suffer pfs comment here that it's more complex than what he suggested ?

I plan on sending him this post for others responses

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I've had mild (only sexual) pfs for almost 4 months now. Have taken the gas pedal off of my e-commerce businesses to research the disease and to seek treatment

I have a free extra 10-15 hours per week. What can I do to help you? You don't have to pay me.. my undergrad is in molecular bio and I generally understand your universal pfs theory

Have been suffering only sexual side effects from dutasteride despite stopping the medication 3 months ago

I've been recently prescribed enclomiphene - the first medication I would be taking for pfs.

Due to your "unable to clear" the testosterone metabolite theory, would you consider it best to steer clear of anything that will raise my t levels for now ?

Here’s my full timeline with hair-loss drugs and sexual side effects. I’d really appreciate honest feedback from people familiar with PFS/post-finasteride issues.

Main questions:

• Does this sound like potential PFS?
• Is it too early to call it PFS?
• How severe does this sound compared to other cases?
• What would you personally do next if you were me?

Needless to say, this whole situation has been extremely stressful and depressing for me. I’ve honestly been nervous to even post this because I don’t know how I’ll handle bad news. Please try to keep replies constructive and avoid trolling/non-contributing comments. Thank you.

Timeline

January 2021
Started:

• Topical minoxidil
• 1% ketoconazole shampoo
• HIMS 1mg oral finasteride

About 3 weeks into oral finasteride, I developed:

• Flu-like symptoms
• Low libido
• Weak erections / “limp dick”

I stopped finasteride and returned to normal within about 1 week.

March 2021 – July 2022
Used:

• HIMS topical finasteride mixture
• Ketoconazole shampoo

Tolerated it fine. No major regrowth.

October 2022 – April 2025
Used:

• StrutsHealth topical dutasteride mixture
• Ketoconazole shampoo
• Oral minoxidil

Hair loss stabilized, but no major regrowth.

March 2023
Stopped topical dutasteride temporarily and tried oral dutasteride for ~1.5 months.

Developed sexual side effects again. Stopped oral dut and returned to normal within about 1 week. Then resumed topical dutasteride.

November 2024
Tried oral finasteride again at 0.25mg daily.  Stopped Topical Dut

Within 2–3 weeks I developed:

• Depression
• Sexual side effects

Stopped it and recovered within 1–2 weeks.

August 2024 – December 2025
Was taking:

• Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq)
• Trintellix

While on these meds, orgasms became more difficult and less pleasurable. I often had to tense muscles to “force out” an orgasm.

Sexual sensation was reduced compared to baseline, but I could still enjoy sex with the right partner.

June 2025 – February 2026
Started a compounded topical dutasteride from a compounding pharmacy.

This gave me the best hair regrowth I had ever experienced.

August 2025 – February 2026
Added RU58841 to the regimen.

Typical routine:

• RU58841 in the morning
• Topical dutasteride at night
• About 5 days/week

At my October 1 hair appointment, both my doctor and I were shocked by the amount of regrowth after only a few months.

December 2025 – February 2026
Stopped Pristiq/Trintellix and switched to only gabapentin 400mg daily.

My anxiety became the lowest it had ever been, and my sex drive returned STRONGLY:

• Extremely high libido
• Multiple orgasms/masturbation daily
• Strong spontaneous urges throughout the day
• Deep/euphoric orgasms

Honestly felt like my lifelong baseline before on and off SSRIs/SNRIs the past 8 years. I’m 40 now.

Late February 2026
The tip of my topical dutasteride bottle clogged due to what the pharmacy called “crystallization.”

To unclog it, I cut the tip open — which caused WAY more liquid to come out than normal.

I estimate I accidentally used roughly 3–4x my normal dutasteride dose for around 2 weeks.

Then I developed:

• Major libido crash
• Very numb penis
• Extremely weak erections
• Severe depression for ~1 week
• Lingering lighter depression for another 3–4 weeks

March 7, 2026 – Late April 2026
Stopped dutasteride completely.

Sexual side effects slowly improved:

• Morning erections started returning
• Still reduced sensitivity
• Orgasms felt muted/lackluster
• Little desire for sex

Then after about 7 weeks off dutasteride, I suddenly had 4 days where I felt COMPLETELY normal again:

• High libido
• Multiple orgasms daily
• Strong sexual urges
• Deep/euphoric orgasms

This gave me hope.

April 25–28, 2026

suddenly had 3-4 days where I felt COMPLETELY normal again:

• High libido
• Multiple orgasms daily
• Strong sexual urges
• Deep/euphoric orgasms

This gave me hope.

April 29th - May 3rd 2026
I cautiously reintroduced:

• Ketoconazole shampoo
• Small amounts of RU58841

(I did NOT restart topical dutasteride.)

Within about 5 days, I experienced another major downturn:

• Reduced sensation
• Soft erections
• No morning erections

May 4 – Today (May 28, 2026)
Stopped:

• Ketoconazole
• RU58841
• Havent taken the Dut since March 7th, 2026

Morning erections have returned, but I still have:

• Reduced sexual sensitivity
• Blunted orgasms

Sensitivity seems to be slowly improving overall, but recovery has been inconsistent — good days mixed with bad days.

Final Thoughts / Questions

I’ve generally had a very high sex drive my entire adult life. Sexuality has honestly been a huge motivational force for me, so having it fluctuate this dramatically for ~3 months has been terrifying.

What do you guys think?

• Does this sound more like temporary hormonal disruption or true PFS?
• Does the fact that I’ve repeatedly recovered to baseline before matter?
• Is the fact that I still get morning erections and occasional “normal” days a good sign?
• What would you do next if you were in my position?

Thank you for any thoughtful responses.

Here’s my full timeline with hair-loss drugs and sexual side effects. I’d really appreciate honest feedback from people familiar with PFS/post-finasteride issues.

Main questions:

• Does this sound like potential PFS?
• Is it too early to call it PFS?
• How severe does this sound compared to other cases?
• What would you personally do next if you were me?

Needless to say, this whole situation has been extremely stressful and depressing for me. I’ve honestly been nervous to even post this because I don’t know how I’ll handle bad news. Please try to keep replies constructive and avoid trolling/non-contributing comments. Thank you.

Timeline

January 2021
Started:

• Topical minoxidil
• 1% ketoconazole shampoo
• HIMS 1mg oral finasteride

About 3 weeks into oral finasteride, I developed:

• Flu-like symptoms
• Low libido
• Weak erections / “limp dick”

I stopped finasteride and returned to normal within about 1 week.

March 2021 – July 2022
Used:

• HIMS topical finasteride mixture
• Ketoconazole shampoo

Tolerated it fine. No major regrowth.

October 2022 – April 2025
Used:

• StrutsHealth topical dutasteride mixture
• Ketoconazole shampoo
• Oral minoxidil

Hair loss stabilized, but no major regrowth.

March 2023
Stopped topical dutasteride temporarily and tried oral dutasteride for ~1.5 months.

Developed sexual side effects again. Stopped oral dut and returned to normal within about 1 week. Then resumed topical dutasteride.

November 2024
Tried oral finasteride again at 0.25mg daily.  Stopped Topical Dut

Within 2–3 weeks I developed:

• Depression
• Sexual side effects

Stopped it and recovered within 1–2 weeks.

August 2024 – December 2025
Was taking:

• Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq)
• Trintellix

While on these meds, orgasms became more difficult and less pleasurable. I often had to tense muscles to “force out” an orgasm.

Sexual sensation was reduced compared to baseline, but I could still enjoy sex with the right partner.

June 2025 – February 2026
Started a compounded topical dutasteride from a compounding pharmacy.

This gave me the best hair regrowth I had ever experienced.

August 2025 – February 2026
Added RU58841 to the regimen.

Typical routine:

• RU58841 in the morning
• Topical dutasteride at night
• About 5 days/week

At my October 1 hair appointment, both my doctor and I were shocked by the amount of regrowth after only a few months.

December 2025 – February 2026
Stopped Pristiq/Trintellix and switched to only gabapentin 400mg daily.

My anxiety became the lowest it had ever been, and my sex drive returned STRONGLY:

• Extremely high libido
• Multiple orgasms/masturbation daily
• Strong spontaneous urges throughout the day
• Deep/euphoric orgasms

Honestly felt like my lifelong baseline before on and off SSRIs/SNRIs the past 8 years. I’m 40 now.

Late February 2026
The tip of my topical dutasteride bottle clogged due to what the pharmacy called “crystallization.”

To unclog it, I cut the tip open — which caused WAY more liquid to come out than normal.

I estimate I accidentally used roughly 3–4x my normal dutasteride dose for around 2 weeks.

Then I developed:

• Major libido crash
• Very numb penis
• Extremely weak erections
• Severe depression for ~1 week
• Lingering lighter depression for another 3–4 weeks

March 7, 2026 – Late April 2026
Stopped dutasteride completely.

Sexual side effects slowly improved:

• Morning erections started returning
• Still reduced sensitivity
• Orgasms felt muted/lackluster
• Little desire for sex

Then after about 7 weeks off dutasteride, I suddenly had 4 days where I felt COMPLETELY normal again:

• High libido
• Multiple orgasms daily
• Strong sexual urges
• Deep/euphoric orgasms

This gave me hope.

April 25–28, 2026

suddenly had 3-4 days where I felt COMPLETELY normal again:

• High libido
• Multiple orgasms daily
• Strong sexual urges
• Deep/euphoric orgasms

This gave me hope.

April 29th - May 3rd 2026
I cautiously reintroduced:

• Ketoconazole shampoo
• Small amounts of RU58841

(I did NOT restart topical dutasteride.)

Within about 5 days, I experienced another major downturn:

• Reduced sensation
• Soft erections
• No morning erections

May 4 – Today (May 28, 2026)
Stopped:

• Ketoconazole
• RU58841
• Havent taken the Dut since March 7th, 2026

Morning erections have returned, but I still have:

• Reduced sexual sensitivity
• Blunted orgasms

Sensitivity seems to be slowly improving overall, but recovery has been inconsistent — good days mixed with bad days.

Final Thoughts / Questions

I’ve generally had a very high sex drive my entire adult life. Sexuality has honestly been a huge motivational force for me, so having it fluctuate this dramatically for ~3 months has been terrifying.

What do you guys think?

• Does this sound more like temporary hormonal disruption or true PFS?
• Does the fact that I’ve repeatedly recovered to baseline before matter?
• Is the fact that I still get morning erections and occasional “normal” days a good sign?
• What would you do next if you were in my position?

Thank you for any thoughtful responses.

Here’s my full timeline with hair-loss drugs and sexual side effects. I’d really appreciate honest feedback from people familiar with PFS/post-finasteride issues.

Main questions:

• Does this sound like potential PFS?
• Is it too early to call it PFS?
• How severe does this sound compared to other cases?
• What would you personally do next if you were me?

Needless to say, this whole situation has been extremely stressful and depressing for me. I’ve honestly been nervous to even post this because I don’t know how I’ll handle bad news. Please try to keep replies constructive and avoid trolling/non-contributing comments. Thank you.

Timeline

January 2021
Started:

• Topical minoxidil
• 1% ketoconazole shampoo
• HIMS 1mg oral finasteride

About 3 weeks into oral finasteride, I developed:

• Flu-like symptoms
• Low libido
• Weak erections / “limp dick”

I stopped finasteride and returned to normal within about 1 week.

March 2021 – July 2022
Used:

• HIMS topical finasteride mixture
• Ketoconazole shampoo

Tolerated it fine. No major regrowth.

October 2022 – April 2025
Used:

• StrutsHealth topical dutasteride mixture
• Ketoconazole shampoo
• Oral minoxidil

Hair loss stabilized, but no major regrowth.

March 2023
Stopped topical dutasteride temporarily and tried oral dutasteride for ~1.5 months.

Developed sexual side effects again. Stopped oral dut and returned to normal within about 1 week. Then resumed topical dutasteride.

November 2024
Tried oral finasteride again at 0.25mg daily.  Stopped Topical Dut

Within 2–3 weeks I developed:

• Depression
• Sexual side effects

Stopped it and recovered within 1–2 weeks.

August 2024 – December 2025
Was taking:

• Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq)
• Trintellix

While on these meds, orgasms became more difficult and less pleasurable. I often had to tense muscles to “force out” an orgasm.

Sexual sensation was reduced compared to baseline, but I could still enjoy sex with the right partner.

June 2025 – February 2026
Started a compounded topical dutasteride from a compounding pharmacy.

This gave me the best hair regrowth I had ever experienced.

August 2025 – February 2026
Added RU58841 to the regimen.

Typical routine:

• RU58841 in the morning
• Topical dutasteride at night
• About 5 days/week

At my October 1 hair appointment, both my doctor and I were shocked by the amount of regrowth after only a few months.

December 2025 – February 2026
Stopped Pristiq/Trintellix and switched to only gabapentin 400mg daily.

My anxiety became the lowest it had ever been, and my sex drive returned STRONGLY:

• Extremely high libido
• Multiple orgasms/masturbation daily
• Strong spontaneous urges throughout the day
• Deep/euphoric orgasms

Honestly felt like my lifelong baseline before on and off SSRIs/SNRIs the past 8 years. I’m 40 now.

Late February 2026
The tip of my topical dutasteride bottle clogged due to what the pharmacy called “crystallization.”

To unclog it, I cut the tip open — which caused WAY more liquid to come out than normal.

I estimate I accidentally used roughly 3–4x my normal dutasteride dose for around 2 weeks.

Then I developed:

• Major libido crash
• Very numb penis
• Extremely weak erections
• Severe depression for ~1 week
• Lingering lighter depression for another 3–4 weeks

March 7, 2026 – Late April 2026
Stopped dutasteride completely.

Sexual side effects slowly improved:

• Morning erections started returning
• Still reduced sensitivity
• Orgasms felt muted/lackluster
• Little desire for sex

Then after about 7 weeks off dutasteride, I suddenly had 4 days where I felt COMPLETELY normal again:

• High libido
• Multiple orgasms daily
• Strong sexual urges
• Deep/euphoric orgasms

This gave me hope.

April 25–28, 2026

suddenly had 3-4 days where I felt COMPLETELY normal again:

• High libido
• Multiple orgasms daily
• Strong sexual urges
• Deep/euphoric orgasms

This gave me hope.

April 29th - May 3rd 2026
I cautiously reintroduced:

• Ketoconazole shampoo
• Small amounts of RU58841

(I did NOT restart topical dutasteride.)

Within about 5 days, I experienced another major downturn:

• Reduced sensation
• Soft erections
• No morning erections

May 4 – Today (May 28, 2026)
Stopped:

• Ketoconazole
• RU58841
• Havent taken the Dut since March 7th, 2026

Morning erections have returned, but I still have:

• Reduced sexual sensitivity
• Blunted orgasms

Sensitivity seems to be slowly improving overall, but recovery has been inconsistent — good days mixed with bad days.

Final Thoughts / Questions

I’ve generally had a very high sex drive my entire adult life. Sexuality has honestly been a huge motivational force for me, so having it fluctuate this dramatically for ~3 months has been terrifying.

What do you guys think?

• Does this sound more like temporary hormonal disruption or true PFS?
• Does the fact that I’ve repeatedly recovered to baseline before matter?
• Is the fact that I still get morning erections and occasional “normal” days a good sign?
• What would you do next if you were in my position?

Thank you for any thoughtful responses.

June 2025 - Feb 2026 Was on topical dut for 9 months with fantastic hair regrowth results

Late Feb 2026 - The tip of the dut bottle clogged from crystallization so I cut the tip of bottle and used probably 3 - 4x the amount of dut I usually use for about 2 weeks

Drastic libido decrease with very numb dick, extremely weak erections. Additionally, experienced hard depression for 1 week and light depression for another 3-4 weeks

Mid to late April 2026- Sexual side effects slowly start to recede after a month and After 7 weeks of stopping dut, I have 4 days of being "back to normal" with high sexual Urges, masturbating multiple times daily, orgasms feel deep and euphoric again

April 26-30 - I slowly start adding in ketoconazole shampoo and a little bit of ru54881 into my hair regiment (did not add topical dut back in) for about 5 days and then WHAM, major soft dick / no morning erections again! That lasted about 4 days and that was about 3 weeks ago Since then, morning erections have returned , increased sexual sensitivity, but don't have that strong, primal urge / really deep orgasms yet.

What do you guys think happened ? Guessing I was in a volatile stage of just recovering and even hitting with the slightest dht blocker nuked the whole system again?

Furthermore, When do you think I can expect a full recovery ?

Side note - this whole experience caused me quite a bit of distress knowing about pfs and what not.. I've always been a high sex drive guy and it's sort of my "North Star" being a single dude... without sexual enjoyment / drive, I'm not as motivated to workout or build my businesses. Not sure I'll be able to go back on the dut from this stressful 3 months I've had now..